ancient

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈeɪn.ʃənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English auncien,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French ancien (“old, long-standing, ancient”),^[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *anteānus (“from before”),^[2][3] from Latin ante “before” and -ānus,^[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *anti (“against”), from the root *ant- “front, forehead”.^[2] The final t was added in the 15th century,^[3][4] by mistaken association with adjectives in -ant and -ent,^[3] as also happened in pageant, pheasant and tyrant.^[4][2] It is related to ante- and antique.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Existing in times long past: 1366 in the OED;^[6] Etymonline has the late 14th century, of persons, “very old”,^[2] and Barnhart about 1390, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Of things, “having lasted from a remote period”, it is from about 1400,^[2] and “existing in times long past” from the early 15th century.^[2] In history it means belonging to the period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, contrasted with medieval and modern (about 1600),^[2] 1605 in the OED.^[6] In English law it meant “from before the Norman Conquest”.^[2] The noun, “a very old person”, is from the late 14th century,^[2] and the ancients, the classical peoples or authors, is 16th-century.^[5][7] Johnson distinguished ancient from old, which relates to how long a thing has lasted.^[8]

Timeline

• 1366 – of times long past.^[6]
• late 14th century – very old, of persons.^[2]
• c. 1400 – of long standing.^[2]
• 1502 – noun.^[5]
• c. 1600 – before the fall of Rome.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Very old; of great age.
2. Of times long past, especially before the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476).
3. Old-fashioned; antiquated.
4. Having the qualities of age or long use; venerable.

Noun

1. A very old person.
2. A person who lived in ancient times.
3. The ancients, the peoples or authors of classical antiquity.

Word family

• anciently
• ancientness
• ancientry
• ancient history

Related words

• antic
• antique
• antiquary
• antiquarian
• antiquated
• antiquity
• ante-
• ensign
• anterior

Usage notes

The archaic ancient, “a flag” and “a standard-bearer”, as in Shakespeare's Ancient Pistol, is a corruption of ensign, by association with this word (1554).^[6][2][4][5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.